The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is a large collaborative astronomical survey, run by representatives from dozens of institutions and used by thousands of astronomers throughout the world. In 2015, the leadership of SDSS called for the creation of a Committee On Inclusion iN SDSS (COINS). I served on COINS for three years, including two years as co-chair.
During my time on COINS, we worked with collaboration membership and leadership on projects to foster a more inclusive environment. This included hosting new member orientations and lunch discussions at SDSS collaboration meetings, surveying the demographics of SDSS, producing documentation of inclusive practices, and instituting guidelines for accessible conferences.
Another component of SDSS inclusion is the Faculty and Student Teams (FAST) program. The program incorporates teams consisting of a faculty member and their students who are at Minority Serving Institutions into the collaboration, including data access and pairing with experienced collaboration mentors. I served as mentors to two FAST teams while I worked with COINS.
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The FAST Initiative: Fostering a More Inclusive SDSS Collaboration
Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Nancy J. Chanover, Adam J. Burgasser, Kelle L. Cruz, Charles Liu, Paul A. Mason, Jesus Pando, Emily L. Rice, Sarah J. Schmidt, Jose Ramon Sanchez-Gallego, and
11 more authors
In American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229, Jan 2017
The success of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) hinges on tapping into a diverse talent base. From our experience, however, it is clear that simply allowing access to SDSS data is not enough to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in the collaboration. For this reason, the SDSS collaboration instituted the Faculty and Student Team (FAST) Program, which pairs teams of faculty and students from underrepresented groups with SDSS partners to build serious, long-term research collaborations. Our intent is to build capacity at the faculty level to propagate SDSS research to students in the long-term. We present the FAST initiative in detail and outline results from the first 1.5 years of the program.
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The Formation of COINS: Equity and Inclusion in SDSS
Sarah J. Schmidt, Jose Ramon Sanchez-Gallego, Nancy J. Chanover, Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Sara Lucatello, Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca, Francesco Belfiore, Brian Cherinka, Diane Feuillet, Amy Jones, and
5 more authors
In American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229, Jan 2017
In the era of large surveys, collaborations like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) are becoming a new normal for many scientists, and collaboration policies and climate have a considerable affect on scientific careers. As such, it is essential that collaborations actively strive to include all scientists regardless of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, career stage, geographic location, economic background, social and cultural backgrounds, and all possible intersections thereof. We report on the formation and progress of the Committee On INclusiveness in the SDSS (COINS). COINS was formed to assess the SDSS-IV project and collaboration’s climate and demographics, to recommend new policies or practices with regard to increasing inclusiveness, and to assist in the implementation of these new activities where necessary. We report on our current activities, which include ongoing support for the SDSS Research Experience for Undergraduates program, support for the SDSS Faculty and Student Teams initiative, administering and analyzing the SDSS demographic surveys, working towards collaboration meeting inclusiveness and accessibility, and adopting strategies for integrating and mentoring new members. We welcome input from SDSS members and non-members about how to work towards a more equitable and inclusive collaboration.